Gavin Mcinnes and his tight jockeys settle the question (NSFW):
A reader chimes in:
The article you posted about the social construction of sexual desire is another great example of how the novelty of counterintuitive claims is actually counterproductive in scientific realms. That men have a stronger (even uncontrollable) sex drive is a culturally reinforced stereotype, yes, but one based in fact. At every level of scientific understanding the fact is confirmed. The sex drive is largely regulated by the production of testosterone. Men produce significantly more testosterone than women, and correspondingly have a greater sex drive. Evolutionary biologists and psychologists note that as childbearing has substantially less cost for males as compared to females, it is to their reproductive advantage to engage in more sex and have more offspring.
If it is culture, and specifically Protestantism, that has defined the female sex drive, you might ask why none of the 40% or so of the world that practices non-Abrahamic religions report a particularly ravenous female population. A published psychology article on sex differences in the sex drive notes (pdf) that in India (Hindu) they also find a significantly higher sex drive in men. Men, as opposed to women, will have sex with “Untouchables”, despite the cultural taboo.
That the author can find a few literary references to the contrary I would suggest is the result of two factors:
1) most authors from antiquity were men, who may be projecting their desires or pandering to their audience 2) there is a very old stereotype of women having less control over their passions (i.e., emotions) in general. For much the same time period that the author is drawing upon to support her contention (ancient greece – mid-20th century), “hysteria” (excess emotionality) remained a recognized medical condition suffered (almost exclusively) by women. That sexual desire might be among the domains that the “weaker sex” could not control would fit nicely with this stereotype.
I do not mean to entirely dismiss social construction/social learning theories. They are very relevant for many topics, but in this case they decidedly incorrect. This is a case in which the wealth of evidence actually supports the stereotype.
The Dish 